atomic bomb
nounDefinition of atomic bomb
1
: a bomb whose violent explosive power is due to the sudden release of energy resulting from the splitting of nuclei of a heavy chemical element (such as plutonium or uranium) by neutrons in a very rapid chain reaction
— called also atom bomb
2
: a nuclear weapon (such as a hydrogen bomb)
Examples of atomic bomb in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Reiffel—who as a researcher in the ’50s was once tasked with exploring the possibility of exploding an atomic bomb on the moon—was in the booth with Madden for those first playoff games with the Telestrator. — SI.com, "A History of Football in 100 Objects," 28 Aug. 2019 Dutch’’ VanKirk, 93, the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died in Stone Mountain, Georgia. — BostonGlobe.com, "This day in history," 28 July 2019 Whoever set off an atomic bomb in the middle of nowhere in September 1979 went to great lengths to conceal it—only to be found out by flocks of sheep 40 years later. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "Sheep Glands Point to Nukes as Source of Mysterious 1979 Explosion," 12 Sep. 2018 One was the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, in which America’s best and brightest scientists worked together to build the first atomic bomb in a feverish race against time. — Quanta Magazine, "Are Genes Selfish or Cooperative?," 14 Sep. 2017 There are more recent examples: Last December, a larger asteroid broke apart over the Bering Sea with force 10 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. — Tim Fernholz, Quartz, "Happy Asteroid Day! NASA still can’t track the ones that could end civilization," 29 June 2019 Get our daily newsletter This was how survivors described their experiences ten years ago, after hundreds of fires, giving off the heat of 500 atomic bombs, raged through the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia. — The Economist, "What caused Australia’s devastating bushfires?," 15 June 2019 The domestic scenes were taken to contrast the New Mexican town’s image as the site of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego Museum of Art exhibit shows the U.S. through the lens of celebrated photographer Alfred Eisentstaedt," 9 June 2019 The exhibit also includes his work as a military photographer shooting the atomic bomb tests of the 1950s. — Trevor Fraser, orlandosentinel.com, "Chuck Stewart exhibit in Orlando puts eye on jazz greats," 10 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'atomic bomb.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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